Daily Archives: January 31, 2011

I’m informed that a compromise will be presented soon after 5pm which could bring the Somme-like battle in the House of Lords to an end after weeks of late-night sittings and abrasive filibustering. Although one source tells me it may turn out to be less of a “compromise” and more of a potential way out of the impasse.

It’s not quite Keys/Gray but amusing enough. You need to listen to this recording quite closely, the key moment is 17:01:45. You can hear an MP – I believe it’s Eric Ollerenshaw, Tory MP for Lancaster and Fleetwood – chatting to another member of the localism bill committee.They are about to take evidence from companies including Barrett, Taylor Wimpey and Redrow.

George Osborne could begin the sell-off of RBS early next year, marking the start of Europe’s biggest every privatisation, as my colleagues report this morning. If the bank is profitable by the turn of the year – and if the share price is substantially higher – an initial tranche of £5bn could be sold.

Intriguingly, I’m hearing separately that Lloyds Banking Group could be even earlier off the blocks, with ministers keen to start the LBG sell-off first. In theory this process could begin before Christmas. Read more

My former colleague Fiona Harvey revealed last October that Chris Huhne’s plan for a green investment bank was being thwarted by Treasury officials, who wanted it to be more like a fund. Then in December Mr Huhne let the cat out of the bag in public when he admitted that the Treasury had won the battle and the new entity probably wouldn’t have the powers to issue bonds*.

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Jim Pickard is the FT's chief political correspondent, having joined the lobby team in January 2008. He has been at the FT since 1999 as a regional correspondent, assistant UK news editor and property correspondent.

Kiran Stacey is an FT political correspondent, having joined the lobby in 2011. He started at the FT as a graduate trainee in 2008, working on desks including UK companies and US equity markets before taking over the FT's Energy Source blog.